Tickets for space tourism go on sale in Israel

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism subsidiary of British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin empire, began selling tickets for the first commercial flight to space in Israel at the weekend.

The tickets are being marketed through a local franchise Galactic Dreamlines, whose director, Eliron Yaron, told Israel's Channel Two News that while he has had many interested potential customers, no tickets have yet been sold in Israel.

That is little surprise considering the hefty price tag of $200,000 for a flight into the earth's sub-orbit that will only last two hours. The flight includes a six-minute "stop" during which the passengers aboard Virgin Galactic's special spacecraft will be able to experience weightlessness.

Two hundreds tickets for the flight have been sold worldwide, and many Israelis are expected to join the adventure, which is tentatively scheduled for liftoff in late 2009 or early 2010.

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